A federal appeals court on Tuesday extended its pause on a ruling that President Donald Trump overstepped his authority with sweeping tariffs on China and other trading partners.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington, D.C., granted the president’s request for a stay of the May 28 ruling by the U.S. Court of International Trade while the higher court considered the government’s appeal. The 11-judge panel tentatively scheduled oral arguments for July 31.
The Trump administration requested the stay in a motion filed with the court on June 9. If the judges denied the request, the president asked for seven days to appeal the decision to the U.S. Supreme Court.
The Court of International Trade issued an injunction on four executive orders that justified the tariffs based on various national emergency declarations under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. The presidential decrees imposed levies on Canada, China, and Mexico, a 10% global tariff, plus additional reciprocal duties.
The trade court ruled in favor of the five small businesses and a dozen states that argued the IEEPA did not give the president the power to impose levies. The court agreed, finding that the levies exceeded “any authority granted to the President by IEEPA to regulate importation by means of tariffs.”
The trade court halted all operations related to the tariff actions and ordered the government to issue administrative notices of the court’s permanent injunction within 10 days. The administration quickly petitioned the appellate court, which agreed to issue a temporary stay.
The administration argued that a stay of the trade court's ruling was critical to prevent it from weakening the White House’s position in tariff negotiations with other countries.
“The injunction unilaterally diminishes America’s bargaining position during sensitive trade negotiations, encouraging other countries to hold our Nation hostage and catastrophically harm our economy,” the administration’s June 9 motion said.
